Incumbent Farkas wins New Windsor runoff vote

Voters in the northwest Carroll County town of New Windsor re-elected incumbent Councilman Steve Farkas yesterday in a runoff election against career firefighter Byron Welker.

The candidates had finished in a tie in the May 8 municipal election, but yesterday Farkas received 113 votes to Welker's 66, Town Clerk Donna Alban said.

The clerk said 179 New Windsor voters cast ballots in the runoff contest - 46 more than the turnout for the May 8 election. The town has a population of about 1,500 and 823 registered voters, according to the Carroll County Board of Elections.

In the municipal election, Farkas and Welker both received 76 votes, tying for the third seat being contested on the five-member Town Council.

In his campaign, Farkas, a systems engineer for General Electric, said New Windsor should enact an adequate public facilities ordinance to force developers to pay for some upgrades to the town's aging water system.

Incumbent Kevin Null and telecommunications technician F. Tracey Alban II, who is married to the town clerk, were elected to the other two seats on this year's ballot.

The mayor's job and the remaining two council seats will be up for election in 2009.